Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

My experience with the 55 model is dated, I owned both a 55 Packard and a 55 Clipper about 50 years ago as family cars and at 6 foot 3 I don't remember any difficulty with the amount of room in the front seat. I admit however that during those 50 years my height has remained about the same, but I've found an additional 100 pounds in weight and the body don't bend as well as it did in those days.

Along a similar line I don't find the seating in my 48 much different from dad's 50 that I drove in high school, but a recently purchased 40 coupe did seem rather tight even with the seat all the way back. In looking I noticed that there were 2 sets of holes in the seat tracks where they were bolted to the floor and I was able to move the seat back about an inch by placing the bolts in the forward most set of holes. It was a change of an inch or less, but surprising what a difference that small change meant in comfort.

In those days front seats could be adjusted by the dealer to fit various customers' needs.

If you take the seat out you should see where the base can be taken apart and bolted back together to get more or less leg room, it can be tilted with shims, they could even insert extra springs for heavier drivers.

Yours may have originally been owned by someone on the short side. Packards were not known for being cramped for room.

The seats tracks bolt through the floor and into a brace the runs in line with the seat track. It should be possible to drill a new mounting holes a few inches further back and still keep the seat firmly/safely attached to the that underfloor brace. But then again at some point you will have the law of diminishing returns, as you will be stretching to reach the wheel and dash switches.